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The Feminization of Poverty

The phrase "feminization of poverty" is used by Sidel and others to refer in a memorable way to the increasing numbers of women and children living in poverty in America today. The phrase further connotes that women as a group are oppressed and particularly vulnerable to exploitation and poverty.

Sidel offers detailed and convincing arguments for the feminization-of-poverty analysis. The most specific facts she offers are in the form of statistics. She notes that the numbers of female-headed families has increased 80 percent, from 5.5 million in 1970 to 9.9 million in 1984, principally as a result of the skyrocketing divorce rate and the increasing number of mothers who have never been married. In and of itself, this fact seems to have little bearing on the feminization of poverty: it is only Sidel informs us that female-headed families are five times as likely to be poor as two-parent families that we begin to see the implications of these numbers (Sidel:17).

Second, the percentage of the population as a whole living below the poverty level decreased in the 1960's and the number of female-headed families increased in the 1970's, so that by 1981 the number of persons living in poor families headed by women had increased 54 percent even though the number of persons living in poor families headed by men decreased almost 50 percent (Sidel:16).

Third, Sidel argues that whereas the sharpest increase in the number of poor women and children occurred in the 1970's, the welfare system cutbacks of the 1980's served to worsen the problem. As part of her evidence, she cites a New York City study by Columbia University researchers which found that the Reagan administration's policies had reduced or eliminated Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) to such an extent that the number of working mothers living below the poverty had more than doubled (Sidel:20). Similarly, the total number of poor families receiving AFDC (four ou...

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The Feminization of Poverty. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 11:03, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1684646.html